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The
History of "Taps"
 During
the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men
near Harrison's Landing in
Virginia
, the Confederate Army was on the other side of a narrow strip of land.
During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moan of a soldier who lay
mortally wounded on the field. Not knowing whether the man was a
Union
or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life to bring
the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his
stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the stricken soldier
and began pulling him toward the Union encampment. When the
Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered that the wounded
soldier was actually a Confederate, but that he was now dead.
The Captain lit a lantern. Suddenly he caught his breath and went
numb with shock. In the dim light of the lantern, he saw the face
of the fallen soldier. It was the face of his own young son.
The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out.
Without telling his father, he had enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his
superiors to give his son a full military burial despite his status as
an enemy combatant. His request was partially granted.
The Captain had asked for a group of Army band members to play a funeral
dirge for his son, but since the boy was a Confederate, that request was
denied. However, out of respect for the father, permission was
given for a single musician to play at the burial.
The Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series
of musical notes he had found scribbled on a piece of paper in the
pocket of his dead son's uniform.
The wish was granted. The music scrawled upon the scrap of paper
in the young boy's uniform was the haunting melody we now know as
"Taps" that is used at all military funerals.
The words that accompany the simple, dignified, and timeless tune are
these:
Day is done. Gone the sun, from the lakes, from the hills, from
the sky. All is well. Safely rest. God is nigh.
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Burial at
Arlington National Cemetery
Burial
space at
Arlington
National
Cemetery
is restricted to those who were honorably discharged from
the Armed Forces and:
-
died on
active duty;
-
served
20 years or more on active duty or active reserve duty
which qualified them for retirement pay either upon
retirement or at age 60 and those retired for a
disability;
-
honorably
discharged with 30 percent or more disability before
October 1, 1949;
-
Medal
of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross,
Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star or
Purple Heart recipients;
-
the
spouse, unmarried child (under 21; under 23 if
student) or an unmarried adult child of any of the
above
-
under
certain conditions, a veteran who is the parent,
brother, sister or child of an eligible person already
interred. Interment must be in the same grave as the
primary eligible.
Arlington
has a columbarium for the cremated remains of any honorably
discharged veteran, their spouse and/or dependent children.
For more information, call the 202.695.3250 or visit http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/.
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Brigadier General William C. Doyle
Memorial Cemetery
On May 30, 1986, Governor
Thomas H. Kean dedicated New Jersey's first state-operated
veterans' cemetery as "a lasting memorial to those men and
women who put their lives on the line to defend our country's
honor and freedom." On January 3, 1989, the cemetery was
named for the principal guiding force behind its development
U.S. Army Brigadier General William C. Doyle.
The facility
was funded jointly by the state and federal governments and is
managed by the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. It
is open to eligible New Jersey Veterans; residents who are
members of the Armed Forces or reserve units on active duty at
the time of death; certain dependents and certain merchant
marines and civilians who have been awarded veteran's status.
Rules and eligibility requirements were established within the
guidelines of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA),
Washington, D.C.
The cemetery is located in Arneytown, North Hanover Township,
Burlington County on Province line Road, which intersects Route
664 to the north of the cemetery and Routes 537 and 528 to the
south. It's central location, 15 miles southeast of Trenton,
makes it easily accessible from the New Jersey Turnpike, the
Garden State Parkway and Interstates 195 and 295.The cemetery
is a contemporary memorial type with all grave markers flush
with ground level. It covers 225 acres and was designed to
accommodate 154,000 veterans and their family members.
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Where to find more information on
Veterans Benefits
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